thoughtsand comments about the 4 day..

[misseulalie]

This may be moved to the trip reports but I don't think it is...

Just got off the 4 day. It was my first 4 day after doing a few 3 days, 7 day and the world record of 25 days.

Here are my veteran thoughts...

Late dining really stinks. My girls were tired, never ate, and we were too stuffed to enjoy Pirate night buffet, and since the kids were so tired, we went to bed too soon from dining. Naps didn't work for either of them.

The food wasn't as good this time. The steaks were tough, the potatos tasted like instant, and there were very few vegatables. Rolls were stale.
Wait staff were very friendly, but unlike the other cruises, we had to often repeat requests, ask for things that should have been brought to us without requesting it, and we always had to ask for re-fills.

I ALMOST didn't tip my head server. (I tip everyone!)
He blew past our table, wasn't friendly and left before anyone could request anything.


I thought the ship would have been decorated more for Christmas. I am used to how much they decorate at the parks and was expecting that on the ship, too.

Photopass is DEFINETLY coming. Possibly by next spring. I made friends with a photographer and we had a long conversation regarding Shutters and the whole photo process. She said there will be kiosks to look at the photos and even though there will be photopass, all the photos will still be displayed like it is now. At this time, they will not be able to display the photos on the stateroom TV.

No indication of where the two new ships are going. The captain was very general and only said where there is a lot of demand.

Just a few thoughts. Now I have a DCL house party to plan!

 

[robertsb19]

We were on the 12/13 - 3 night cruise. This was our 7th Disney Cruise, & 1st time on the Wonder.
We were looking forward to seeing the wonder.
But we were soon disappointed.
Dining room servers were terrible. We constantly had to ask for drink refills, did not evey get our drink orders taken until after they took our food order.
We had 2nd dining with a table for 8, but only 4 people there. Dining room was also not full.
I felt bad because our diner companions were on their 1st Disney cruise and they were complaining. We told them that this was not the usual Disney service and should still consider another cruise.
Drink station on deck 10 was a mess everytime we were there. Cups empty, milk emtpy.
The entertainment staff was good.
Palo's was great as always.

We did tip, but only the minimum for the dining staff. Also made sure they were aware of the poor service we received.

Back to the Magic for us.

 

[frdeb1999]

Wow...sorry to hear about the bad experiences. We were on the 4 NT in August and has fantastic servers and a wonderful experience. Sad if that isn't the case at the moment. Hope you had a wonderful time despite that though.

 

[misseulalie]

A few more things...

Hercules the Musical was fantastic. After my many cruises, I never saw it. So many people told me it wasn't any good.
I think it was better than the Golden Mickey's. I love all the pop culture references.

I noticed the room service menu had a few more options. That's good.

The cast members seemed tired. I didn't see the usual smiles and energy. Maybe they are missing being home for Christmas?

I was surprised the kid's club weren't slammed with kids. We had a completely full sailing, yet the clubs were never jammed with kids.

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

I, too, had a fantastic time on the Wonder in August....one of the best ever.

I wonder (sorry about the pun) if many of the CMs are near the end of their contracts and are just running out of steam.

The CMs seemed very energetic back in the summer and maybe they had just started their contracts.

I love the pop culture references in Hercules, it was great being able to laugh at something the kids didn't get. I will miss that when the show gets replaced by Toy Story.

I've said it before but Disney needs to create a show with Hades and Pain/Panic.

Regarding the food....I think I read a TR from the Magic this month that said the food was disappointing so maybe its a food vendor problem.

 

[Kay1]

Thank you for your honest assessment. We're considering a cruise next year. Because we don't have a money tree we'll have to give up our usual 10-day vacation. I can blow off a lot of things but if we spent that much money and received carpy food and service, I would be very unhappy.

I realize there are risks involved in cruising - mainly weather-related - but Disney should provide an excellent product if they want to charge a premium price.

Btw, we're considering a 7-night Western. Do you think the Magic is better than the Wonder?

 

[nuttylawprofessor]

We just got off the 4-day as well. I would have to agree with the food and dining reviews already posted. The quality was ALL OVER the place, from well-prepared and tasty to inedible. To the PP who posted about instant potatoes, you were correct. The potatoes served on pirate night with the tenderloin were absolutely, positively instant mash. We had the 8:15 seating and started our rotation at Animator's. Our server was trying his best, but his assistant was terrible. It was the assistant's second cruise and he really didn't have the hang of it yet. He was having a really hard time with English and had no grasp of our American idioms. I really do wonder whether we would have been better at the buffet. I wonder if OP was seated near us. We were at table 36.

My review of everything else about the ship, though, is glowing. We received fantastic service everywhere else. Guest services went above and beyond for us, helping us get a missing bag from Southwest airlines by having the airline send it to Nassau with Disney picking it up at the airport for us. Guest services ROCKED!

 

[misseulalie]

We just got off the 4-day as well. I would have to agree with the food and dining reviews already posted. The quality was ALL OVER the place, from well-prepared and tasty to inedible. To the PP who posted about instant potatoes, you were correct. The potatoes served on pirate night with the tenderloin were absolutely, positively instant mash. We had the 8:15 seating and started our rotation at Animator's. Our server was trying his best, but his assistant was terrible. It was the assistant's second cruise and he really didn't have the hang of it yet. He was having a really hard time with English and had no grasp of our American idioms. I really do wonder whether we would have been better at the buffet. I wonder if OP was seated near us. We were at table 36.

Were you on the Dec. 16th 4 day?

We were at table 16.

The servers were very nice and bonded with my girls, but the service just wasn't there like before.
Maybe I'm spoiled, but I'm used to having our drinks ready for us on the table when we come in. It took awhile for refills, and here was the big test... My father asked for cheesecake the first two nights. If our server was really "on the ball" he would have had cheesecake for him on the 3rd and 4th night. (just like our 7 day last year).

Also, previously, I was always able to get the chocolate souffle from Palo served to me in the main dining rooms. The head server was always able to get me at least one. Our head server this time just said "no, I can't do it" and he left the table.

To the poster who is considering taking a cruise with DCL...Please don't let our remarks keep you from going. I love DCL and will be going back in June. It's just when we had such fantastic service and great food, it was disappointing to have this happen. DCL's service is still better than other cruiselines even on their worst day. It's just when you are used to the "extras" it's hard not getting them.

 

[nuttylawprofessor]

Yes, we were on the 12/16 4-day. Was your head server Cristo(something-or-other) from Croatia? If so, don't be too hard on him. He was trying desperately to keep our area fed. He was trying to train our assistant.

My parents were on this cruise and the eastbound transatlantic Magic cruise. They had a similar problem on the transatlantic: inconsistent service and food but great service everywhere else.

Overall we were very pleased with the cruise, and I'm sure we'll do another.